Yearning to Breathe Free — Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1
By Toni Lee Robinson

1 During the 1800s, it seemed that many people around the world shared a dream. They wanted to live in America. They came by the millions to U.S. shores. It was as if there were a huge sign over the nation flashing the word "OPEN" in bright neon letters. Why did people come? For most, it was a longing for freedom and the hope of a better life.2 Some people were driven from their homes by acts of nature. Drought or some other disaster had brought hardship. In the mid-1800s, Ireland's potato crops failed. A million and a half Irish people died of hunger. Millions of others fled to escape starvation. Many of them came to America.3 Some were harassed because of their religion. Russian Jews were one of the groups that suffered this treatment. Jews and others were looking for a place they could worship as they saw fit. America, they knew, was based on this freedom.4 In many countries, people's lives were determined by which group they were born into. The ruling classes were made up of rich and powerful families. This group made all the rules and had all the rights. The common people were stuck at the bottom of the ladder. Many peasants and working-class families were barely more than slaves. Countless German, Italian, and English people were examples of this plight. These families were desperate for hope and a future. They looked to the U.S. as a place to make a better life.5 In America, they had heard, things were different. The U.S. had a president chosen by the people — not a king. A person didn't have to be part of a rich family to have the right to be free. In America, it was said, anyone could have a good life. Best of all, the U.S. was a big, sprawling country. Its huge frontier was being tamed. There was lots and lots of land.